Drying apparatus



March 24, 1970 r A. MELEGA ETAL 3,501,846

DRYING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 14, 1967 I I I I r r I I I I Ad FIG. 3

fl aeflT MELEcn ERNEST MEI-E68 INVENTORS BY @M M United States Patent O3,501,846 DRYING APPARATUS Albert Melega and Ernest Melega, Malverne,N.Y., as-

sYignfirs to Mal-Marc Corp., a corporation of New Filed Sept. 14, 1967,Ser. No. 667,826 Int. Cl. F26b 25/00 US. Cl. 34-103 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for drying articles comprises a housinghaving means for placing articles to be dried, and drying means arrangedto convey a current of drying gas around and about the articles in adirection from the bottom to the top of the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to dryingapparatus. More particularly, it relates to apparatus and method fordrying wigs or hair pieces. These items require periodic washing andsetting. The cleaned and set wig is then ready for drying. The dryingoperation is eifected by placing the wig under a hair dryer of the typeused by beauty parlors to dry customers hair or the portable unit usedby women at home. More recently, multiple unit wig dryers have beenproposed. All of these dryers blow hot air upon the top of the wig anddown the side. A disadvantage of such dryers is that it takesundesirably long times to efiect complete drying of the wig. Anotherdisadvantage is that the heating mechanism is not readily accessible.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide adrying apparatus which will dry wigs in less time than heretoforepossible. Another object is to provide an apparatus which will dry wigsin a more effective manner than heretofore. Yet another object is toprovide an apparatus which will dry a plurality of wigs in a uniformmanner. A further object is to provide an apparatus whose dryingmechanism is readily accessible. Still another object is to provide anew and improved method for drying wigs and other diflicult-to-dryarticles. These and other objects of the present invention will beapparent from the following description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The apparatus of the present inventioncomprises a housing having a substantially cabinet-like shape and havingmeans disposed therein for supporting one or more wigs. A dryingmechanism mounted externally on the housing directs a flow of drying gasinto the bottom of the housing, and circumferentially up past and aroundthe wigs. At least part of the drying gas may be recycled, therebyproviding a substantially circular flow of drying gas.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 represents a plan view with thecabinet top removed to show the interior.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1 withthe cabinet doors removed to show the interior.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a plan view taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION As shown in FIGURE 1 the drying apparatus comprisesa cabinet-like housing 1 which may be made of metal, wood or othersuitable material. The housing is suitably insulated and provided withdoors 3. Drying 3,501,846 Patented Mar. 24, 1970 "ice mechanism 2 ismounted externally to the housing and attached to a sidewall of thehousing at the lower end of the sidewall. Located within the housing isfloor panel 17 having a plurality of wig supports 4. The wig supportsare located within cut-out portions in floor panel 17 and maintained bysupport members 21. As shown the supports are circular; however, anyother shape or configuration may be used. Surrounding each support areopenings 5 for air or other drying gas formed by a cut-out portion offloor panel 17. The sidewall of the housing is provided with a vent 8and duct 7. The latter leads to drying mechanism 2 which is providedwith timing control 13, indicator light 14 and thermostat 15.

FIGURE 2 shows the positioning of the wig supports 4 on floor panel 17.Wigs 19 are placed on forms 18 for drying. Wig supports 4 haveflange-like projections 20 around their perimeter. Floor panel 17 hasflange-like projections 16 on the outer perimeter of openings 5. An airpassage 6 below floor panel 17 communicates with drying mechanism 2having blower 9 and heating element 11. Vent 8 is formed in the shape ofan inverted louver. Duct 7 communicates with drying mechanism 2.

FIGURE 3 shows wig 19 mounted on form 18 which is placed on wig support4 on floor panel 17. Air passage 6 is below floor panel 17. Flange-likeprojections 16 together with flange-like projections 20 oncircumferences of wig supports 4 form directional flow-control means forthe drying gas.

FIGURE 4 shows detail of the drying mechanism which has air intake 12,motor 10, blower 9 and heating element 11.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The operation of the wig dryer will now bedescribed.

Wigs 19 which have been washed are set or shaped on forms or blocks 18for drying. The forms are placed on supports 4 and the doors 3 areclosed. Thermostat 15 and timing control 13 are set to suitable andpredetermined values. The timing control may be of a type to control theblower motor 10 and heating element 11 at different intervals. Forexample, the blower may be started and stopped, respectively, severalminutes, say 5 minutes, after the heater is started and stopped. Thisallows unheated air to be blown through the unit after completion ofdrying operation. This cools the drying mechanism, removes heat from thecabinet and cools the wigs allowing the operator to touch and removemetal clips, pins, etc. immediately after the heater is shut off. Air isdrawn into air intake 12 and passes through and around motor 10 beforeentering blower 9. This serves to cool the motor.

Air from blower 9 is passed into air passage 6 under static pressure andis forced through openings 5 where flange-like projections 16 and 20direct the air flow up and around wigs 19. Baffle 22 serves to directair through the openings 5 closest to blower 9. If desired, additionalbafie plates may be provided adjacent other openings 5. The air rises ina manner shown by directional arrows and a portion is expelled throughinverted louver and 'vent 8. The heaviest moisture laden air is scoopedout of the unit by duct 7 and returned to heating mechanism 2 where itmixes with fresh air entering air intake 12 and is heated and recycled.The fresh air may constitute from about 5% to about 50% of the total airflow and the recycled air may constitute from about to about 50% of thetotal air flow.

The type of air flow described above is extremely efficacious in dryingwigs. The heated air is directed up around the entire circumference ofthe wig. In this manner, drying of the most difficult-to-dry portion ofthe wig, that is, the base of the wig, the wig nap and the roots-of thehairs, is greatly facilitated and expedited. Locating the heatingmechanism outside the drying cabinet facilitates maintenance.

While the wig drier has been described in a specific embodiment it willbe apparent that modifications and variations may be made thereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention. For example, morethan 1 shelf may be provided and other than 3 wig supports may bedisposed on each shelf. Other articles may be dried in addition to wigs,particularly hard to dry fibrous or matted articles.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for drying an article comprising a substantiallycabinet-like housing, drying means attached to said housing forcirculating a drying gas in the housing, the drying means communicatingwith the lower region of the housing, a substantially shelf-like memberdisposed above said lower region of the housing, said member having atleast one cut-out portion with a support provided within the cut-outportion for holding an article to be dried, the support being smallerthan the cut-out portion so as to provide a zone between the cut-outportion and the support for passage of the drying gas, the perimeter ofthe cut-out portion and the perimeter of the support being provided withsubstantialy flange-like projections.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the upper region of thehousing is provided with a vent.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the housing is provided withadditional means communicating with the drying means, said additionalmeans being separate from and located above the means communicating withthe lower region of the housing.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said communicating means islocated above the substantially shelflikc member.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the housing contains a vent inthe upper region of the housing.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said drying means isconnected with a first opening in the lower region of the housing andwith a second opening in a sidewall of said housing at a level abovesaid first opening, and wherein said housing has a third openingcommunicating with the atmosphere.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein a duct disposed withinsaid housing leads to said second opening.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said duct is formed by amember adjoined to the side of said housing, said member extendingupwardly along the side of said housing from the bottom of said secondopening.

9. The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said third opening is at alevel above said second opening.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said third opening isprovided with a louver.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,179,256 11/1939 Gill 34197 XR2,480,227 8/1949 Derr 34104 XR 2,442,344 6/ 1948 Curtis 34233 1,534,4994/1925 Braemer 34219 XR 3,152,875 10/=1964 Davis et a1. 34202 3,298,1131/1967 Friedman 34-l03 XR 3,327,404 6/1967 Ganier 34224 XR KENNETH W.SPRAGUE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

